History WesternAnimation / MarthaSpeaks

** In "Martha Gets Spooked", Mrs. Parker mentioned the "pickle incident" (from the episode "Martha's Pickle").

* TheDanza: InUniverse, the star of Martha's favorite ShowWithinAShow ''Courageous Collie Carlo'' is played by a collie dog who's also named Carlo.

Like all PBS Kids series, the show is educational. It focuses on mainly teaching preschoolers about synonyms and vocabulary in the English language, with each episode featuring an underlying theme illustrated with keywords. However, it occasionally puts some focus on introducing other learning concepts to kiddies, such as the Spanish language, history, and astronomy. But don't let the simplicity of the content fool you, the show has acquired a good-sized PeripheryDemographic because of its writing, which is unsurprising given that a lot of the people on this series also worked on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.

[[caption-width-right:350:"And now she's got a lot to say!" [[note]] Left to right: [[JackOfAllTrades Daniel]], [[TheCutie Jake]], [[GreenThumb Mariella]], [[TalkingAnimal Martha]], [[FriendToAllLivingThings Helen]], [[LovableCoward Truman]], [[BigFriendlyDog Skits]] and [[CloudCuckooLander T.D.]] [[/note]]]]

* CryingCritters: Never happens actually, but in "Martha's Blue Period", Helen is worried about Martha missing her and imagines Martha crying so much she floods the house.

* {{Meganekko}}:
** Alice Boxwood, Mrs. Boxwood, Granny Flo, and Mrs. Clusky.
** Helen as her favorite book character Curious Crystal, complete with GirlishPigtails.

* BreatheOnTheFan: Done once during a HeatWave episode.

* AnimalGenderBender: All the adult mallards in the show have drake colors, complete with a green head, whether they are male or female.

* IAteWhat:
** In the first episode, Helen eats dog food.
** In "Martha Takes the Cake", Nelson eats a birthday cake, which he probably intended, but he also accidentally ate the candle along with it, which...did not go so well.

* {{Mondegreen}}: In "Alice Covers Up".

%%* FiveManBand:

* ToiletDrinkingDogGag:
** In "Martha in Charge", Martha cites drinking from the toilet as a perk of doghood.
** In "Martha Runs the Store", Skits wanders into the ladies' bathroom at the mall and drinks from the toilet.
* TongueTrauma: Skits runs away after biting down on a bee and getting stung in the mouth.

* CerealInducedSuperpowers: Talked about in "Bye Bye, Burger Boy". When the characters' favorite restaurant (Burger Boy) is threatened to go out of business due to the success of another restaurant which they don't like the food of (Big Burgertorium), the children try to make ads and T.D. suggests starring in an ad in which he used to be a weakling until he became the way he is now from eating a burger from Big Burgertorium. However, the others deem that unacceptable as that would be lying.

* DisappearedDad: We never find out who Skits's dad is. We also never find out who Mariella's father (Helen and Jake's maternal grandfather) is.

** In "Martha Models", Helen and Carolina suggest dressing Martha and Skits up as [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Bones and Dog-tor Watson]] or ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. They then decide to dress them up as ''Literature/FrankensteinsMonster'' and [[Literature/CountDracula Count Dog-Ula]].

* SecretShame: In "The Cheating Chum Caper", T.D. likes a comic book made for little kids.

* ScaryScienceWords: The show sometimes employs this trope due to its habit of defining things:

* AccidentalMisnaming: In "Martha's Life of Crime," Kazuo calls a mean woman who comes into the animal shelter looking to adopt Martha "Mrs. Crumblebum." Her name is actually Mrs. Bumblecrumb. Later, a man that she's trying to fence a stolen baseball to calls her "Stumblebum." Finally, the police officer that arrests her calls her "Fumblethumb" and she laments that she wishes someone would get it right.

* BigNo: Martha after she and Skits try to clear up leaves but the wind blows them away in "Martha's Must-Have"

* BlatantLies: Martha when she is refusing to admit to Skits, Rinty, Ruby, Bert and Cisco that she and Kitten have made friends. Her awkward voice and behavior give it away that she's lying.

* BrokenAesop: At the end of "Martha's Steamed!", Helen asks Martha if she learned something from all. Martha believes it's you couldn't jump to conclusions and a very hot dog can get very thirsty. Helen says the lesson was you shouldn't go eat food everywhere you see because it will lead to trouble. Martha, of course, misses the point and tries to reach for something in a trash can, only to fall in.

* CatsAreMean: Nelson is something of an EvilGenius who plots ways to get Martha in trouble, leaving her to defend her innocence. Martha is invariably [[HoistByHisOwnPetard vindicated]] by the end of the episode.

* DramaticThunder: In "Paws and Effect".

* DumbBlonde: T.D. He does things like being tricked into buying a steak tree.

** EvenEvilHasStandards: Nelson, who had formed an EnemyMine union with Martha to get rid of Dynamo, is also disturbed by Ronald's willingness to get rid of Dynamo.

* {{Expy}}: Mrs. Bumblecrumb is similar to Madame Medusa from ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers''. Another flapper with too much make-up, partners with a bumbling oaf, and uses someone to steal something from her.

* FieryRedhead: Mr. Sterns, the school janitor, has red hair and he is ''very'' fiery, especially if dog hair is involved.

* FridgeLogic: In-universe, In "Alice Covers Up", Martha is enjoying having fun splashing in a kiddy pool.

* HypocriticalHumor: In "Martha's Pickle", a black and white film's Creator/BruceCampbell-esque protagonist keeps defining words for his DumbBlonde girlfriend. Truman criticizes this as "not being how real people talk".

* IngestingKnowledge: The show's premise. Aside from ordinary Alphabet Soup, Martha has also eaten Spanish Alphabet Soup to speak Spanish. She also once ate a paper of SpySpeak definitions, which caused her to talk in code.

* LampshadeHanging: In "Martha's Pickles", Truman points out how often the hero of the movie defines words.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: and RippedFromTheHeadlines: One whole episode revolves around every dog in Martha's town wanting to be Obama's family dog. While the president portrayed is black and uses Obama's speech patterns, Obama's name is never used.

* LetsMeetTheMeat: Parodied in the ''deserted'' and ''adore'' TheMoreYouKnow segments.

* {{Meganekko}}: Alice Boxwood, Mrs. Boxwood, Granny Flo, and Mrs. Clusky.

* MerchandiseDriven: Averted. Aside from the books, there's only two Martha plush designs (a beanie, and a regular plush), and none of them talk.

* TheMoreYouKnow: Appropriately for an educational show, before and after each episode members of the cast (including the Narrator) talk about the vocabulary words that will be or had been used in the episode.

* OriginsEpisode: "Martha's Life in Crime" where Martha tells Truman about her puppyhood prior to being adopted by Helen.

* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: In "Martha in the White House", a new president is sworn in. And he's black.
** [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Of course]], this is now TruthInTelevision.

* ProperTightsWithASkirt: Helen

* RashomonStyle: "Never Forget to Remember"

* TheRival: Carolina's best friend Tiffany Blatsky.

* RunningGag: Martha has many dream jobs. She first dream about them ever since he first heard of them.

* SesameStreetCred: Billy Collins and Kit Luntanne in different episodes

** A ''Series/SesameStreet'' parody featured in "Dog Fight", which the kids think is a "baby show".

* SickEpisode: Helen gets laryngitis (a serious, but very short-lived case) in "Martha in Charge".

* SpeaksFluentAnimal: Zigzagged. Martha is able to understand, but not speak the language of, cats, birds, and sheep but she is notably not able to understand monkeys and has some difficulty understanding puppies. She can understand giraffes, but they cannot understand her. The bird, featured in "Martha Doesn't Speak Monkey", can understand giraffes and Martha when she's speaking English, but not monkeys, and the giraffe from the same episode can understand monkeys and birds but not dogs or people. Professor Monkey, apparently, can understand all the languages in the world, but can only ''speak'' in monkey. T.D. once wanted to speak to animals after seeing a guy on TV who can do this, but he can't do it because he can't pronounce barking and doesn't have a tail.

* SuperheroEpisode: In a ContinuityNod to "The Martha Show", the episode "Return of the Bookbots" revolves around one of the show ideas discussed before. "Verb Dog, When Action Calls" and "Fit Fights Fat" also involve Martha and others being superheroes, but they're dreams.

* TalkingAnimal: Martha, obviously.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Martha and Helen.

* TotemPoleTrench: Martha and Truman perform this during the interlude segment between the episodes, "Cora! Cora! Cora!" and "Cora Encore!"

* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Despite the fact that Martha is the only known talking dog in her world, in general, nobody seems freaked by it. The most common reaction to her talking is no reaction, though sometimes people may be mildly surprised, then simply decide to just go with it. In "Ain't Nuthin' But a Pound Dog," Kazuo of the animal shelter thinks that he's having a joke played on him when Martha's dad calls up asking if a talking dog has been taken to the animal shelter, but when he actually does finally hear Martha talk, he just takes it in stride. Oh, and you would think that if there were a talking dog in town, everyone would know about it, but apparently not.

* VomitDiscretionShot: Nelson throws up after eating Alice's birthday cake. The audience doesn't see it but the characters sure do.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Several, including covering the birth of Helen's baby brother (in a kid-friendly manner), [[MakesSenseInContext Martha being kidnapped and used for crime by a one-shot villain]], why Skits is afraid of hockey pucks, and a time when Martha was jealous of puppy Skits getting all the attention.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Carolina has a bad case of stage fright. She just freezes up on stage and doesn't even remember it.

* NotSoDifferent: As shown in "Grandpa Bernie Cleans", he and TD are a lot alike. Bernie even said that Helen is like her grandma.

* PowerUpFood: Alphabet soup makes Martha able to talk. Though for some reason, it only works on Martha and no other dog.

** Mrs Demson to Martha in "Martha Puts Out the Lights". She calls her Magda, then Marla.

* AmbiguousSituation: In "Martha Takes the Cake", Martha is suspected of eating a piece of Alice Boxwood's birthday cake (along with a candle) because there were crumbs next to her. After Nelson throws up the candle, it's revealed that he was the one who did it, but that doesn't solve the mystery of how the crumbs got there in the first place.[[note]]The ending implies that [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight T.D.]] may have been a tad right.[[/note]]

* BetweenMyLegs: TD's mom's legs were between Mr Sterns when he found dog fur on the floor.

* BlatantLies: Martha when she is refusing to admit to Skits, Rinty, Ruby, Bert and Cisco that she and Kitten have made friends. Her awkward voice and behaviour give it away that she's lying.

** When she's pretending to be Mariella, she lies that she (Mariella) is stuck in the staircase while trying to get a piece of food, and then when Mrs Demson comes to help Mariella, Martha lies that Mariella got free. Mrs Demson doesn't believe Martha, so she has to have a conversation with her own voice and hide under the door to do the other side in Mariella's voice ("I'm fine" "Are you sure?" "I'm sure" "Absolutely?" "Absolutely"). Mrs Demson then asks why Mariella doesn't come out of the house, and this is Martha's answer

* CassandraTruth: In "Skits and Mr Scruffles", Milo meets Skits, who he calls "Mr Scruffles" and his dad thinks he's an imaginary friend. When Skits tells Martha about Milo, she thinks ''Milo'' is imaginary. Later, when he and his dad go out and show T.D. a picture of Skits, he recognises the drawing as one of Helen's dogs and gives them directions, adding that if they get lost, ask for the girl with the talking dog, which makes Terrence very distrustful of T.D. and to think he's making fun, until he meets Martha and finds out she can talk.

* CerealInducedSuperpowers: Talked about in "Bye Bye, Burger Boy". When the characters' favourite restaurant (Burger Boy) is threatened to go out of business due to the success of another restaurant which they don't like the food of (Big Burgertorium), the children try to make ads and T.D. suggests starring in an ad in which he used to be a weakling until he became the way he is now from eating a burger from Big Burgertorium. However, the others deem that unacceptable as that would be lying.

* TheDanza: InUniverse, the star of Martha's favourite ShowWithinAShow ''Courageous Collie Carlo'' is played by a collie dog who's also named Carlo.

** One of the babies Mrs Oatley babysits doesn't like spinach, and saying the word "spinach" counts as negative feedback from that baby.

** There are two flashbacks to Skits's puppyhood. One was in "Skits on Ice" when they were explaining why Skits was afraid of hockey pucks and the other was in "Martha Plays Favourites" when Martha remembers being jealous of him.

** The most part of "The Jakey Express" is a flashback centred on Mariella being in labor.

* GothsHaveItHard: When the kids imagine Milo as unable to feel joy due to not being able to have his favourite ice cream, they imagine him as a broody poet who wears black.

* HoldingBothSidesOfTheConversation: In "My Mother the Dog", Martha does a voice impression of Helen's mother Mariella while she's out. Then, Mrs Demson comes over to see if Mariella is okay.

* HypocriticalHumor: In "Martha's Pickle", a black and white film's Creator/BruceCampbell-esque protagonist keeps defining words for his DumbBlonde girlfriend. Truman criticises this as "not being how real people talk".

* IntentionalMessMaking: In the episode "Martha Plays Favourites", Martha remembers a time when Skits was a puppy and she intentionally wet the rug to get attention because she was jealous of him.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ronald Boxwood, Grandma Lucille, Mrs Parkington, Bob, and Mrs Demson are all a bit crabby and impolite, but not complete jerks.

* MaternityCrisis: In "The Jakey Express", it's revealed that Mariella went into labour while pregnant with Jake while it was snowing and the car had broken down.

* MissingMom: We never find out who Skits's mom is. We also never find out who Mariella's mother (Helen and Jake's paternal grandmother) is. Mrs Clusky has three nieces, although their mother is never revealed (she would be Mrs Clusky's sister or sister-in-law). We also never find out who Carolina and Milo's mothers are.

* NeatFreak: Grandma Lucille, the janitor in "Raiders of the Lost Art", Carolina, and Mrs Demson. They get ''very dramatic'' if something of theirs gets dirty. Also Mariella and Danny to a lesser extent.
* NewBabyEpisode: In an episode, we learn how Jake was born. Mariella [[MaternityCrisis went into labour early on a snowy slope]] and they had to slide down the mountain to get to the hospital. Martha tried to help as best she could, but as she couldn't speak then, her ability to communicate was limited.

* NonSequitur: One of the toddlers Mrs Oatley babysits just says "applesauce" for "I like this" and "spinach" for "I dislike this".
* NosyNeighbor: Mrs. Parkington is quite nosy and, with the exception of one episode, lives next door to the Lorraines. Mrs Demson, who lives across the street, can also be nosy.

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: In "Skits and Mr Scruffles", Milo moves into the neighbourhood and meets Skits, who he calls "Mr Scruffles" as he doesn't know his name. His dad Terrence thinks he's imaginary due to Mr Scruffles also being the name of Milo's teddy bear. When Skits describes Milo to Martha, she thinks ''Milo'' is the imaginary one.

* PrejudiceAesop: In the episode "There Goes the Neighbourhood", Martha doesn't want to be friends with [[ADogNamedDog Kitten]] the cat because she hates cats, but then she learns that cats aren't all bad.

** The show "Courageous Collie Carlo", featuring an action hero dog, which is a favourite of most of the main cast.

** Averted with Dynamo the robot dog. He can recognise dogs and barks at them, but his remarks make no sense to dogs. Ironically, the only language he seems to be fluent in is English, while he's meant to be a dog.

* StorybookEpisode: In "Martha Spins a Tale", Martha tells a story in which she's Goldilocks (but still a dog), Daniel, Mariella and Jake are the Three Bears, Helen is Little Red Riding-Hood, Alice is Sleeping Beauty's cousin, Pablum and Otis are ogres, Nelson breathes fire, Mrs Demson is the Queen of Hearts, Skits is the Mad Hatter and T.D. is Robin Hood.

* TrademarkFavouriteFood: Martha has steak and alphabet soup, one of the babies has applesauce.

''Martha Speaks'' is an animated educational series on Creator/PBSKids adapted from [[Literature/MarthaSpeaks a series of books of the same name]] by author Susan Meddaugh. Martha is an ordinary dog but, well, let's just let the show opening theme [[ExpositoryThemeTune explain the premise]]:

** People being surprised to see Martha talk. Also, those who know her personally are confused by other people who think they're joking around.

** When Skits was T.D.'s pet before being Helen's.